As if the shameful loss of the game versus the Saints wasn't bad enough, now it's been reported that Will Allen, Miami's most experienced cornerback, has been placed on IR with a torn ACL and will be gone for the rest of 2009. Vontae Davis is expected to be the starter alongside Sean Smith. Expect more playing time for Nate Jones and Jason Allen and for practice squadder Will Billingsley to get called up for active duty.
Now with Chad Henne at starting QB, the two rookie corners starting, Jake Long and Donald Thomas starting on the o-line, and Kendall Langford and Philip Merling getting the lion share of reps on the d-line, it seems like the Trifecta's draft picks are all getting immediate starting jobs one way or another. After the dismal job by the receiving corps today, I wouldn't be surprised if Brian Hartline was starting next week as well.
<span style="color: #808080;">why can we not close the deal...why can we not be one of those agressive teams that when they get up they keep at it. Why have we been mediocre or just plain terrible (1-15 anyone :( ) for so damn long. I have been a fan since I was twelve and I am 42 so I have seen many ups and many downs....but damn it just seems like we are in a forever series of mediocrity. I know, I know, I am whining. What can I say, I am a girl and I am pissy this morning.</span>
ReplyDeleteThis was a tough loss. But really did we expect to win? I am not one of the Tedd Gin bashers, but I think I am going to jump on the Bash Teddy band wagon. He is absolutely awful. His drops and non-phisical way of playing is killing our chances to win games. I think there were at least 4 ocasions when the ball was thrown well to him, that most any starting recieve would have cought and he dropped them. Probably more. The one Pick 6 on Henne hit Gin right in the hands and he popped it up to the other team. (he did show some hussle to run down the back and slap the ball from his hand BEFORE it went through the endzone.) Bad call by the Refs on that one. The slow mo showed the ball crossing the line WITHOUT the D-back holding on to it. That was a Touch Back not a TD!! Take back that bad play by Ginn and the bad call by the Refs and this was a totally different game.
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess Lil' Mark Giglio ain't getting a new bike from me!
It's a somber day in the office, between this lone dolfan and the raider
ReplyDeletefans i'm surrounded by.
I'm pissy this morning, too. We had two weeks to prepare for that game and all we got out of it was a good half of a game. Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough! I'm beginning to lose faith in the direction that this team is going. It's the coaching staff, not the players, the players are playing hard. An analogy that occurs to me is that of Nero fiddling while Rome burns, and what I mean by that is WHERE THE HELL IS BP AND WHY IS HE ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN!
ReplyDeleteI knew someone would bring up Ginn and he did have two poor plays where he has to catch the ball. There were other poor plays by the WRs and TEs. But I don't believe they was responsible for the 24 points we allowed in the 4th quarter. We were leading by 10 heading into the 4th quarter and got outscored 24-0. Can the defense make a stop?
ReplyDeleteAnother thing, is it against the law to throw passes to Ronnie Brown?
ReplyDeleteHow did the Raiders beat the Eagles last week? LOL
ReplyDeleteCoaching mistakes in yesterday's game (feel free to add on to list):
ReplyDelete- We were up 24-3 with 2 minutes to go in the first half, with the ball
at/near our own 20. Instead of protecting the lead, we decided to try to
score again and then Bess fumbled several plays later. We took a whopping
30 seconds off the clock, allowing the Saints to march down the field to
score.
- Despite that blunder, our D tightened up and was about to hold NO to a
field goal with 6 seconds left. Sparano calls a timeout, allowing the
Saints enough time to set up another play and score a TD (which I still
don't think got over the line, but there was no review).
- Still, with a 24-10 lead and starting the 2nd half with the ball, we
all but abandoned the wildcat and started getting pass-happy. None of our
receivers can catch, so that was a risky move that didn't pay off and led to
the Saints clobbering us on time of possession.
- In the 4th quarter, down by six, instead of giving the ball to Ricky
Williams and Ronnie Brown, we called pass play after pass play to Ginn (who
hadn't made a catch in the 3 previous quarters), Camarillo (who's toss of
the ball to the sidelines would get you benched if I were the coach) and
Fasano (who wouldn't even be a pass target on my team). Our coaches don't
seem to get the concept of putting the ball in your best player's hands and
to ride the hot hand and to not fix what ain't broke.
Knight, the defense got screwed by the 4 or 5 consecutive three and outs and
ReplyDeleteturnovers by the offense. The D was completely in control in the 1st half.
I hear ya because we abandoned the running game, but the defense I saw in the 1st half was not the same defense in the 2nd half, especially the 4th quarter.
ReplyDeleteWell first we lost Will Allen, then Porter lost his cool/focus, and our
ReplyDeleteoffense kept giving the ball back, keeping our defense tired.
Has the Dolphins' management realized that they are still half a shopping cart short on groceries and have decided that this year isn't as important as next year (2010 draft)? Seems to me that, despite saying the right things to maintain appearances to the fans and keep the team playing hard, they realize they don't have a team yet that will take it all and are merely buying time? Sorry for all the ???, this is a indeed a dark hour.
ReplyDeleteI think we could have all handled a loss to the Saints, but not after going up 24-3. Why we went away from the running game is something I can't figure out.
ReplyDeletetin, i think hartline should start and replace ginn. the trifecta should now know that ginn is not our future, he cost us 7 points with what shouldve been a caught ball with a perfect pass from henne, and also dropped the ball in what could've been the winning drive. Also turner must be given a chance now that will allen is out for the season. I've been watching his highlights from usc and seriously he made sanchez look good. He cant do worse than what ginn has done so far in his now 3rd year in the league
ReplyDeleteThe whole of last night pissed me off. First I couldn't get a reliable feed, then my laptop "exceeded it's running time" and shut everything down, so I missed a lot of the first half domination and saw all the second half collapse with a digital feed on the monitor and an audio feed one play behind.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I think this regime does is comes up with good gameplans, but when the other team changes it's plan, we don't seem to respond or can't respond. New Orleans took the wildcat and run away from us in the second half and dared Henne to beat us with his arm which he couldn't do. The also changed their blocking schemes in the second half to neutralise our rush (which got more and more half-hearted) and Brees picked us apart.
Looking at the big picture, after an 0-3 start, did anyone really expect big things this year? We are in year 2 of a 3 year minimum rebuilding project, we really should have beaten 2 as yet unbeaten teams who may even face each other in the Superbowl (Colts and Saints) and we have got better each year since the 1-15 debacle, but all the pieces aren't yet in place for us to be a dominant team. We still have weak links, we still have inexperienced players and even an inexperienced head coach.
Until we stop giving up quick strike pass plays in the 25yd+ range and letting teams make big chunks of yardage on ST, we aren't going to beat good teams, we're just going to beat ourselves. I was still pissed off this morning that we squandered chances, but in reality, I knew this game + the Jets and Pats on the road were going to be barometers of where we are. That's not where we all want us to be, but it's where we are, with room for improvement still in lots of areas. We are making progress and I still believe in what we are doing here. I don't think we'll sweep the Pats (now our only chance) but I do believe we will be the stronger for it and next year we hopefully have a real chance with another off-season of improvement.
Well according to the beat reporters, Turner is 'not ready' to play. I
ReplyDeletedon't know how they would know that....
my thoughts exactly. I really was excited and happy when we came out smokin'. I thought "oh my....the coaches really are getting this thing down"...then it all fell apart and that was more heartbreaking to me, then if we would have been down from the beginning.
ReplyDeletedamn, I just never took Sparano for a tap dancer but this year his pressers are just so damn predictable.
ReplyDeleteWell we do have a lot of young players getting experience on the field which I think is a good thing heading into 2010. I'm not writing this season off but I'm looking at it realistically. A winning record and the playoffs would still be gravy to me.
ReplyDeleteComing off of the 1-15 season in 2007 it couldn't get much worse. Last year we did something very rare and this year is a continuation of the rebuilding process. For me 2010 is the test for how well the trifecta has done. I expect the team to make the playoffs and be a contender next year.
Because they think they're scouts. ;)
ReplyDeletesickening.. i don't know how else to say it. play to not lose the game. comedy of errors when we do try and make things happen. this just in, ginn drops another one. final drive, two WR set, sometimes only one, and double TE? ever heard of a shotgun and 3 wideout set?
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious that the Saints are a super team and we're not even close. The Colts also made that obvious. The only silver lining here is that this collapse came against a NFC team and not in our division! Speaking of our division, we just gave Fat Ass ammo to start talking shit for the rematch.
ReplyDeleteuk, I understand your pessimism, I think we all have a shade of it today,
ReplyDeletebut I have to say that New Orleans didn't take the Wildcat away from us. We
did what we do every time we're trailing, completely abandon the run, which
is the strength of the offense. Our o-line struggled in pass protection
yesterday, yet we were able to move the ball effectively for most of the
game on the ground (yes Vilma made some big plays in the backfield, he also
got beat on more).
The truth is our coaching lost the game for us yesterday, along with our
receivers. Bess's fumble led to a touchdown. Ginn's bobble led to a
touchdown. Ginn and Fasano's EASY drops killed our chances of coming back.
We rushed for 137 yards on only 30 carries. 4.6 yard average. had we ran
our usual 45 carries, that would average out to 207 yards rushing. That
turning away from something that was working, and would eat up clock,
keeping the ball away from the Saints potent offense and our tiring defense
off the field, is why we lost the game.
The good news about the feed issues is you know there will be a replay of
the game on NFLN due to the high scoring.
how so? they lost to the saints too.
ReplyDeletedo you guys think that ginn should be inactive? i've just given up on him, if the ball touches your hands you should catch it, and the ball touched his hands almost evrytime, also with what couldve been a td in the 4th quarter
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/v/TCoK6p5nElM
ReplyDeleteguys check this outt
personally i think Ginn should move down the depth chart and be used in
ReplyDeletespecific ways. put him in the wildcat, run the occasional reverse, let him
return punts.
I don't think he should be inactive because he still is more of a threat
than Bess.
How did we play not to lose? We abandoned the running game for the pass. We passed 37 times compared to 30 rushes.
ReplyDeleteTin,
ReplyDeleteI don't think we rushed that well yesterday (admittedly on a good run D) but as I said, I missed a lot of the first half. In that half, we had 120 yards, but 70 of that was on one run. OK, 2x50 = 100, which is good for a "normal" team, but not by our standards of being a "run-first" team. In the second half, I don't have the stats, but it seemed to me that NO stacked the box, took away our running game (I saw too many tackles for no or little game and, as you pointed out, our passing game isn't good enough to bail us out. The exact same thing happened to the Giants and Arizona last night and their passing attack is better than ours at this point. Actually, I can work out the stats from your post - we must've had 17 yards in the second half?
I know we made coaching errors, but the Saints, imho, made us one dimensional and that's why we lost. If we did rush for 17 yards in the second half (I should check it but I guess you will know?), no one will ever convince me that our coaching staff thought passing was our best way to win that half given a free hand? We had to take advantage of what we were given and we couldn't. That's the way I saw it anyway.
I totally agree with Tin about the running game. Our coaches seem to forget that our running game can be explosive.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't think I am pessimistic - just realistic. I think we are much better than we were last season, talent-wise and we will be better again next year. Last year, our secondary took time to gel. This year, it has again, as it did with our line. The big drop-off for me is in the passing game. Last year, Penne was given more time and he and the receivers made more clutch-plays. Camarillo is not back to where he was, Ginn is as patchy as ever and TE production has left the biggest hole. That seam route down the middle was one of Penne's faves and he hit it unerringly and we got chunks and chu nks of yards from it. This year ..... very little.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing whislt I'm on my soap box, then I promise to get down - why is it Route 66 pronounced "root" but I wide receiver runs a route pronounced "rowt"?
ReplyDeleteKnight, do you not think they did that for a reason?
ReplyDeletewell thats true, i say give turner a chance to play because he has better hands and is a big threat size wise. If he doesnt play then remember what happened with murphy, he was incative all last year then cut.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tin on Ginn. You know Ginn hasn't come through quite a few times this year but he has also had good moments. I still wonder why Bess gets a free ride with his 3-13 typical game stats and he never scores? Why is he even on the field? He does nothing!
ReplyDeleteThat TE seam was Pennington's thing. Did Henne even have a TE at Michigan?
ReplyDeleteI only ever saw him hitting a slew of WRs - Mario Manningham, Braylon
Edwards, Steve Breaston, Adrian Arrington, and Jason Avant.
Personally, I believe the 'root' pronunciation is down to mis-pronuniciation
ReplyDeletefrom truckers and song-writers in the 50s and 60s than anything else. Plus,
as someone with a fabulous fake scottish accent, I'd like to think they say
'root' as well. lol
Tin, the most confusing thing to me is that we came out in the second half like we were down. We abandoned the running game like we were trying to play catch up when we still held the lead. This game was lost in a big way by the coaches. What happened to the D in the second half? Why did they change what they were doing? Why did we stop trying to run the ball? there were like 3 or 4 stalled drives in the second half where we didn't even TRY to run the ball. What was Sparano thinking? I hope the media hacks ask them these questions.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know Turner has better hands than anyone?
ReplyDeleteuk, I don't know what the reason would be. :(
ReplyDeleteWe tried 2 series in the third quarter, both of which failed to generate a first down. Had they not been drive stoppers, I'm sure we would have stuck with the run, but the coaches abandonned the run for a reason and that wasn't because they wanted to lose. I concede that the passing series also ended in punts (mostly), but I still think the Saints dared us to beat them through the air and we couldn't.
ReplyDelete<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style=""><span style="">1-10-MIA 20 (10:02) R.Brown left end pushed ob at MIA 26 for 6 yards (D.Sharper).</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style=""><span style="">2-4-MIA 26 (9:36) Direct Snap to #23 R. Brown (Shotgun) R.Brown right tackle to MIA 28 for 2 yards (D.Sharper, J.Dunbar).</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style=""><span style="">3-2-MIA 28 (8:55) Direct Snap to #23 R. Brown (Shotgun) R.Brown right tackle to MIA 29 for 1 yard (J.Vilma).</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style=""><span style="">1-10-NO 15 (7:17) R.Williams left end to NO 11 for 4 yards (S.Shanle).</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style=""><span style="">2-6-NO 11 (6:42) Direct Snap to #23 R. Brown (Shotgun) R.Brown right end pushed ob at NO 15 for -4 yards (T.Hargrove).</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style=""><span style="">3-10-NO 15 (6:09) C.Henne pass incomplete short right to R.Williams.</span></span>
Knight, he def has better hands than Ginn. Hell, I've never played in the
ReplyDeleteNFL, but I coulda made those catches.
We also had a 10 point lead heading into the 4th quarter.
ReplyDeleteAnd some fans think we played not to lose. It's interesting to see how completely opposite views can be determined from the same game. LOL
ReplyDeleteuk, when they were daring us to pass, we didn't adjust at all, then when we
ReplyDeletedid, they dropped back in coverage. That's why you need to have a balanced
attack of both run and pass, but without the run, you can't sell the
play-action, which is the only effective way to pass in this league (unless
you're running a spread offense).
well bess doesnt drop passes thrown his way,
ReplyDeleteTin and I have obviously have the same view for this offense because I keep agreeing with what he's been saying about it today. :-D
ReplyDeleteWell until this year Ginn wasn't dropping balls. He didn't play like this last year. Hands haven't been an issue for him since he came into the league. This year it has been an issue.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to drop a zero yard pass
ReplyDeletelol tin!
ReplyDeleteSparano on Ginn:
ReplyDelete[Armando Salguero] asked Sparano, with all due respect, why he would
continue to start Ginn when the player is clearly not performing, and,
indeed, hurting Miami.
"Well, Armando, I thought some of the situations right now that have
occurred, quite honestly, are circumstances," Sparano answered. "In other
words, what I mean by that is there are a lot of things that go into some of
these things. Well, there are some of those things with Ted as well. In
other words, the ball isn't thrown on time, he does beat the coverage and we
don't get a chance to throw it.
"I think Ted is a young guy who is getting better and has been improving
along the way. He just didn't have a real good ballgame yesterday."
Sparano on Hartline:
"With me," Sparano said, "how you play in the game kind of merits whether
you should play more and I think Brian played good enough yesterday to merit
playing more."
He clearly has started saying one thing and doing another. He has made no
'shake-ups' this year despite saying he would. There's one thing that
should be pointed out though. On Hartline's big catch and run, he ran an
inside post and the throw was on the money and the defender lost balance.
Had they run the same route with Ginn, it would have been a touchdown
(assuming he catches the ball), but they never seem to run those kinds of
routes with Ginn, instead going with the back shoulder fade over and over
again. Obviously they're doing this to keep Ginn away from the middle of
the field. If they need to gameplan to keep a WR out of harm's way, they
will never open up the passing game.
I agree about the balanced attack completely. Everyone knows our best offensive players are RnR so why not give them the ball? I love to see power-running too and I'm fully on board with play-action and even "extreme play-action" with a flea-flicker occassionally. All I'm saying is I can see why they gave up on the run after 2 drives stalled as a result of lack of production. I don't think I would've given up so easy either, but they did. As for in-game adjustments, as I mentioned earlier, I think it's something we do less well than last year and our opponents sometimes.
ReplyDeletelol tin, he's been reliable even though he doesnt have the best speed,
ReplyDeleteKnight - that has always fascinated me too.
ReplyDeleteThere is a "cut Ginn" petition on-line now.
Some fans are saying Sparano can't coach, 1 year removed from being a sliver away from coach of the year last year.
The danger of looking at something through a microscope I guess. You focus on one thing and miss the big picture. Yesterday's game was just one game. Sure, as fans, these losses are frustrating and when something doesn't work, everyone wishes for extreme change, but sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.
I often think of what Cowher built in Pisstburgh. Imagine if Art Rooney had bailed on him? Look what he has built - a foundation. They are on a 5 game W streak again now.
Pittsburgh!
ReplyDeletedaniel, Bess has really done nothing all season. He can't get any separation unless the DBs play off of him and allow him to run underneath routes. That's all he does.
ReplyDeleteI've just finished listening to that (why is the feed so lousy on that sometimes?)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see him live up to that and put Hartline on the field more. He isn't as reliable as Camarillo was last year, but he's been consistent and played pretty well for a rookie.
And why do people say "with all due respect" when what they really mean is I don't respect your opinion based on what you did? Could it be bacause they don't want the Omar treatment?
"And why do people say "with all due respect" when what they really mean is I don't respect your opinion based on what you did? Could it be bacause they don't want the Omar treatment?" LOL
ReplyDeleteOr when people say "honestly", meaning everything else you've been saying is a lie? LOL
yesterday he dropped some....but his acting skills are great. ;)
ReplyDelete"In other
ReplyDeletewords, what I mean by that is there are a lot of things that go into some of
these things. Well, there are some of those things with Ted as well. In
other words, the ball isn't thrown on time, he does beat the coverage and we
don't get a chance to throw it.
BUT when the ball is thrown his way...more often than not, he drops it. Now granted some of the passes are hard to catch passes and would be highlight worthy, but some are not. Plus, what defines a great WR is the one that can make those impossible plays and be consistent..neither of which Ginn has shown (maybe yet...but three years is awhile to show what you are made of and he has yet to...jmo though). Sparano last year made personal adjustments mid season when things were not working out. As a fan I would like to see him try again. Will they neccessarily work better....maybe--maybe not....but at least something was done.
I haven't read any of the comment's here,cuz I figured that "MOST" would resemble the last few I read @ the chat,(where I was going to offer encouragement),but the mood of the room PISSED ME OFF!! Fing CRITICS!!
ReplyDeleteOne "CRITIC" @ the chat who was probably SINGING THE PRAISES of "OUR" TEAM EARLY-ON suggested @ the end of the game that NOW the TEAM was SUDDENLY a "DISASTER of a team"!!
Are you fricken kidding me??
Who the F U C K was watching Oakland,among many other teams and thought it was MIAMI ??
NOW THAT'S A DISASTER!!
WE played a FANTASTIC 3 qtrs vs currently THE MOST "EXPLOSIVE/BEST" team in the league,
and we blew-it in the end..
Sooo WHAT,watch the team interviews,are the staff/players sniveling like a bunch of bitches??
NOOOO, their MEN,their owning-up to their mistakes,NOT CTITIQUING one another,and moving-on!!
RBROWN was even laughing,and of course smiling!!!
WE FANS/critics take this stuff tooo personally,believe me I know,
I live and die upon EVERY victory or defeat of the FINS!!
Did we EXPECT to even be in this game,unless we played 4 perfect qtrs?? NOOO!!!
We played 3 perfect qtrs(for the most part),and shot our wadd in that effort,
but still could have won if not for some 4th qtr breakdowns,(ala vs ELITE Indy)!!
It HURTS BADD to lose TWO like that, even vs the ELITE!!
We play the exact same game (beginning to end) vs 25 or so teams in the league,and we win!!
It WAS a "DISASTEROUS" 4th qtr(Indy/NO),but for 3qtrs WE were the BEST TEAM in the league,(TWICE)!!
This suggest to me that this team is going to prove "DISASTEROUS" to ALL but the ELITE for the remainder of this season,and WILL BE among the ELITE in o10!!
And in NO-WAYYYYY is a resemblence of a "disasterous team", some fans/CRITICS are the DISASTER!!!
""FAN,one who ENTHUSIASTICALLY SUPPORTS one!!""
ANYWAYS, for those that wrote us off after an 0-3 start,(I said we'd be one game out @ the bye)!!
For those that now say the team is a disaster,I'll reply that we have 10 games remaining,and ONLY ONE ELITE team remains on the schedule,(TWICE)...
We'll finish @ 9-7,10-6, and then you'll all jump back on!!
The "critics" frustrate,and annoy me farrr more than this team that I've loved for 45 yrs can ever hope not to!!
GO M I A M I D O L P H I N S !!!
THANK-YOU for the farr above parr effort vs the 2nd highest scoring team in league history!!
13K I love your passion!! But it is hard not to be frustrated. I guess for me, it was the rollercoaster ride HIGH in the first half and then really low in the second that made my night and my day today kinda somber....but I truly do appreciate your loyalty and your enthusiasm! :) :) :)
ReplyDeleteTHANX� Mrs S Lush,(I forgot your 1st name since I recommended SLush to you wayyy back when)... I'm gracious for your acknowledgement!!!��LUV�OUR FINS!! 13KV / Ken...
ReplyDelete